Last Updated on January 9, 2016 by hungryoungwoman

Now, this was a visit I was waiting for. And, a review worth writing. The Counter is one of the few places that made me realize why I am a food writer. I love food. I really like how you can experiment with it, put strange things together and make them taste amazing. And the best part is, you can never get bored of it. Food understands you.

Getting back to the topic…The Counter recently opened up at the Dubai Mall and is located opposite the Ice Rink on ground level. We chose their seating area outside, which is right under the umbrellas in The Village. Such a pretty sight I must say.

The Counter basically lets you customize anything you please – their burgers or burger in a bowl (a healthier alternative), your smoothies and shakes. They also have ready made options for the unadventurous, but I’d really recommend making your own stuff here.

We started started with our shakes, one with “Butterscotch, Nutella and salted pretzels” and another one with “Oreo and brownies” for my younger sister.  I loved the former and couldn’t help ordering another one. The consistency of the shakes wasn’t too thick so they didn’t make you feel too full. You can easily have one shake with fries and your burger. (depends on the burger you’re ordering)

Another guest of mine tried their smoothie consisting of “Mint and kiwi with orange juice and frozen yoghurt (low fat)”. This combination was quite good too, wasn’t expecting yoghurt to go well with these citric fruits.

Parmesan Fries

Onion Rings

House made Chili

We then ordered their starters – Sweet Sriracha Chicken Wings, Parmesan Fries, Crispy Onion Rings, House made Chili. Went a little crazy I know…

From the lot, we LOVED the chicken wings. What’s not to love about these? The Sriracha sauce on the wings was flavourful and went well with the spicy ranch dressing on the side.The Parmesan fries were another hit, loads of cheese melted on the top. We just couldn’t stop with one bite.

We built two burgers and tried a burger in a bowl. The burger in a bowl was made with Mixed greens, one pound chicken , mozzarella, dried tomatoes and coleslaw with Caesar Salad (Desperate attempt to eat healthy didn’t work. Who puts mozzarella when you want to cut down?)

For the burgers: One pound beef, Jalapeño jack, turkey ham and dried cherry tomatoes with a whole wheat bun with ranch sauce and ginger dressing (tried topping this with our onion rings. Creative right?)

One pound beef, cheddar cheese, jalapeños, coleslaw, beef bacon strips and hamburger bun with Pesto and steak sauce.

The verdict: Since we chose ingredients of our liking, we ended up falling in love with our creations. And why not? We found the hidden chef in all of us. For first timers, the meat comes in three different sizes; 1/3lb, 2/3lb and one pound.

And lastly, after an enormous meal we came to our last course. Our server suggested the Big Ol’ Cookie and House made Cheesecake for us.

The cookie was soft and warm and the ice cream on top made it a pleasant experience. The cheesecake, on the other hand, was the only thing I was probably not fond of. Like the usual ones, this wasn’t easy to cut into and the cheese seemed frozen.

Hungryoungwoman recommends visiting The Counter, where you can let your creative side come out.

Happy Eating! xx